


The Myth of Voltron

by britta885



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst, Body Dysphoria, Elemental Magic, Galra Keith (Voltron), Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Magic Gone Wrong, Monster Hunk, Monster Lance, Monster Pidge, Monster Shiro, Multi, Not Beta Read, Unknown Galra Keith, monster Keith, monster transformations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-04-19 02:43:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14227362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/britta885/pseuds/britta885
Summary: The team has gotten adjust to using their elemental powers, Coran decides that they should take their treating to the next level. The problem is, they do not know what they’re getting themselves into, and neither does Coran, since the tradition’s record has become corrupted over time. After taking some magic Atlean “potion” to advance their powers, the team wakes a little different.





	1. Discovery and Awakening

Having elemental powers took everyone some getting used to. For Lance, it came naturally, he had always wanted to control water and make to stuff for him. The rest of the team would come into his room and find his magical water tidying up the place periodically, or moving around the castle on its own, on some errand for him. It had also caused some problems, when Lance figured out that he could use the water to prank Keith, dumping water on him while he was training (though Keith got back at him - when Keith yelled at Lance, he breathed fire and burned Lance’s suit in a few place).

Keith, on the other hand, had a hard time controlling it. There were limits to how far his body could handle the fire, only around his hands and arms, which had burnt his hair a few times. He also had to start wearing clothes he did not particular like, as his fire would burn all of his clothes except for his paladin suit (he really need to ask Coran for an extra paladin suit). It also seemed that the fire was tied to his emotions, hot red when he was angry or upset, yellow when he was happy, blue when he was calm or relaxed, and violet when he was sleepy or tired. Even when he was not directly calling on his fire, there was still a glow around his arms and hands, a slight flickering to the light around his skin. When Lance had called him a mood ring, after burning his shirt again, Keith decided to wear a different jacket to hide the flickering (it got really distracting for him and the rest of the team).

Pidge also had a difficult time adjust to the new powers; she had finally began to accept the whole “nature” aspect of being the Green Paladin, and had used her new powers to create plants for her room and the common areas of the castle. It was nice to have something that brightened up the clean, white spaces of the castle. Though Pidge did have some control issues, where one night all the plants in her room and the kitchen grew long vines and trapped her inside of her room. After figuring out the source of why it happened, a nightmare about her family, Pidge worked on controlling her emotions and talking to Shiro about what she was feeling.

For Hunk, at first he did not believe he could much with his powers, due to the fact that they were in space all the time and were nowhere close to any earth. But during training one time, Hunk was able to create earth from thin air, to protect himself from a rogue Gladiator. Later on, while working with his powers, he discovered that he could move certain metal objects, like some of his knives. This proved to be amazingly helpful, while on missions and while cooking in the kitchen. Throughout the day, the members of the Castle would see pieces of rock and metal floating down the halls, bringing everyone snacks and little messages from Hunk. Hunk was pleased with this ability and did not mind at all being the Castle’s pseudo mail system.

Shiro was the last one to finally discover his powers; after everyone had had the “potion”, they had discovered their powers over the course of a week or so. Shiro, on the other hand, took a month to discover his, and not from lack of trying. By the end of the first week, Shiro was calm and sure that the powers would manifest and Coran and Allura reassured him that this was true for other previous paladins and Atleans. But by the third week, Shiro had looked through every book in the library related to elemental powers and had pestered Allura and Coran more times that they could count, even though neither of them had elemental powers - it is something only reserved for truly skilled warriors they had told him.

Shiro’s frustration was evident, in the way he stomped around the Castle, jaw tight, and the way he took out his frustration on the training simulator, something more on parr with Keith would do, not Shiro. But finally, after much frustration, one night Shiro find his powers- he had finished reading a report Allura had given him and tossed it, wanting to sleep and be done with it for the night, when a burst of air sent the report flying through the room and into the adjoining bathroom.

When everyone woke up for breakfast the following morning, the kitchen was a mess of various (non breakable) objects strewn across the room, Shiro standing behind one the counters with a huge smile, still in his pajamas. He had been practicing since the report went across the room and was too excited to sleep.

After that, they incorporated their new powers into the training sessions, practicing bring their element forth and using it together with their bayard. It was awkward at first for everyone except for Keith, as his was the easiest to call and he used it as a way to enemies from getting too close to land a blow. Shiro, despite being the last to find his power, used his wind effortlessly in battle, able to disarm and confuse enemies in one blow, send them up in the air and then bringing crashing back to the ground.

Lance, for the most part, just made the ground wet, slipping up the gladiators and the other paladins, then shooting them or knocking them down to the ground. As he trained more, Lance became more creative with his water, disabling enemies with arms of water or freezing water around their bodies or weapons, but always making them slip and fall.

Once Hunk figured out that he could metal, it was over for all the gladiators. Paladins, on the other hand, were a little bit different, as the Paladin armour was not actually metal but more of a hard plastic mixed with crystals to absorb not just physical attacks, but also magic attacks (like ones from a certain Space Witch). Nonetheless, Hunk did pretty well using his elemental powers in combat, often summoning rocks from the air and hurtling them at his teammates, or during a few missions, using the metal walls to wrap enemies up.

Pidge could summon plants and vegetation during combat, but it usually took longer, so she began to carry a small plant that she incorporated into her armour and wore as a small bracelet. During fights, she create vines, thorny branches, and wet mosses to stop enemies, often sending the vines inside the machinery of the gladiators or sentry drones.

After several weeks of training and going on basic missions, Coran announced that they were going to go to the next step of the elemental powers, which involved a magic potion, as Lance called it.

“What does it involve?” Shiro asked, hoping it wouldn’t taste like food goo, and also for the benefit of the team. They had been called by the Alteans to the kitchen one day after training, sitting around the table. In front of them sat a large glass-like jar filled

“Well,” Coran said with his hand on his chin, “We need to grind up the Durace herb along with Nuwol spice, then mix it together with Tianor milk…”

“No, like, what do we have to for it?” Lance asked, trying to get Coran to not ramble.

“Well, that’s easy! You just drink it!”

“And it will increase our powers?” Keith asked, skeptical as always.

“Yes! Your abilities to summon your elements will increase, and you be able to perform more complex alchemy and magic with it!”

“And we just have to drink it?” Keith questioned with a small frown and a raised eyebrow.

“Yes!”

“This sounds too good to be true, why haven’t we done this before or heard about it?” Pidge asked.

“Well,” Allura began, “We were unsure if all of you would want to possess elemental powers when we first met all of you, but since then, you have all proven yourselves.”

“So is this potion thingy like an Altean secret?” Hunk interrupted.

“In a way, you could say. The elemental powers are reserved for the best warriors, as we have told you, and now is the next part. With this,” Allura gestured towards the glasses, “all of you will be the champion of your element.”

It was silent for a second or two—each paladin deep in thought pondering the risks and rewards—then Lance happened.

“I’m down for it you guys are!” Lance bursted out, already having made his decision. “If it means that we can fight the Galra and Zarkon better, then so be it!”

Coran and Allura blinked in surprise, while the other Paladins jumped in their seats.

“Lance, we don’t know what it will do to us,” Shiro said gently, trying to remind him of the stakes.

Lance shook his head and said “I know, but I think it will be worth it. It means we might have a better chance against Zarkon.”

“Well, we could always have Lance be the guinea pig,” Pidge muttered, causing Shiro to send a glare at her, then focus back on the discussion.

“If one of us does this, I think it would be only fair that we all do it,” Shiro stated, looking around at the team. Lance stared back at him, having already voiced his opinion, while Hunk fidgeted slightly, still thinking.

Keith, on the other hand, was staring at the substance in the jar, which was a cool, light blue with bubbles moving up and down. After a moment, Pidge notices that Keith wasn’t  paying attention anymore, his eyes seemed unfocused, lost in thought. Pidge nudged Keith with her elbow, making him startle for a second and then come back to the conservation.

“You okay, Keith?” Pidge said, turning her head to look at him.

“Yeah, just lost in thought, that’s all,” Keith said, eyes turned down, still thinking.

“Keith,” Shiro said, “What do you think?” Shiro’s eyes were strong and focused but there was hint of concern in them.

“I think we should do it,” Keith shrugged while speaking, eyes darting up to look at Shiro.

“Pidge, Hunk, thoughts?”

“I agree with Keith and Lance, I guess. If it helps fight the Galra, then it’s worth it,” Pidge said.

“Hunk?”

“Uh, I’m still on the fence, but if everyone else is doing, and it’s all or nothing, then I guess I’ll do it?”

Shiro smiled at the team, glad that everyone had come to the same decision without much fighting or beckering.

“Alright, then we’ll do it,” Shiro said, turning back to the Alteans.

Allura nodded, while Coran began to prepare the ‘potion’, pulling out five small glasses and pouring the blue substance into the glasses. Lance began inspect the glasses, moving around the table and the platter where the glasses were placed.

“You know, these kinda look like shot glasses,” Lance said, picking up one and narrowing an eye at it.

“What is a ‘shot glass’?” Allura asked with a slightly puzzled but curious look.

“Well, on Earth, we have shot glasses for concentrated amounts of alcohol and people like do them together in a bars.”

“Hmm, interesting,” Allura said. “Do people on Earth have many rituals when it comes to the consumption of alcohol?”

“Oh yeah, tons,” Lance said, straightening up “People do drinking games all the time with alcohol, there’s a lot that varies by culture though, like some people do this thing called ‘beer pong’, but my personally favorite uses a cardboard bo-”

“Let’s get back to the potion, Lance,” Shiro interrupted, reminding him of the task at hand.

“So, we’re all going to drink this together, right?” Hunk asked picking up his “shot” glass and looking at its contents.

“That’s the plan, or it at least sounds like it,” Keith said, picking up his glass, raising an eyebrow at the liquid but otherwise unconcerned.

Pidge sighed, picking up her glass. “Let’s get this over with, I have stuff to do.”

“Alright, do we want to do it at the same time?” Lance asked, looking around to make sure everyone had their glass, gesturing for Shiro to do the same.

“Sure, why not,” Keith said, shrugging his shoulders and looking bored.

“Alright, one, two, three…”

Keith immediately brought the liquid to his lips and downed it, unconcerned about it and unaffected by the taste of it, unlike the other paladins. When Lance drank his, he clapped his hand over his mouth to keep himself from spitting out the liquid and his eyes started to tear up. Shiro grimaced as the liquid went down his throat and coughed a few times afterwards. Hunk began fanning his mouth and Pidge also grimaced and tried to keep her mouth shut. Shiro was the first to speak, opening his mouth and coughing a few times before actually getting the words out.

“Uh… was that stuff supposed to taste like that?” Shiro asked, looking at the Atleans who seemed concerned about the paladins’ reactions to the liquid.

“No, I don’t believe so,” Coran said, “From my memory, most of the warriors had no trouble drinking it.”

“Maybe it was bad because we’re humans?” Pidge ventured, looking at Shiro and Hunk, who both nodded.

“If that’s true, then why didn’t Keith react?!?” Lance demanded, pointing dramatically at Keith.

“Maybe I can handle my liquor better than you can,” Keith replied, with a small smile on his lips.

“Hey! I’ll have you know that at my sister’s—” Lance began, then cut off by a groan from Hunk.

“Guys, I’m not feelin’ so peachy right now,” Hunk moaned, looking pale and clutching at his stomach. As he said this, Pidge noticed that her head was throbbing like never before, possibly the worst headache she had ever had.

“Yeah, I’m with Hunk, my head’s killing me,” Pidge said, taking off her glasses and rubbing her temples. “Shiro, I know we had training planned later, but can Hunk and I skip? I have a feeling this is gonna last a while.”

“Of course,” Shiro replied immediately. After a second, Shiro let out a loud,long fart— the kind that comes from too many beans— which surprised everyone. Shiro’s face became red from embarrassment and he quickly tried to recover and pretend it didn’t happen.

“Actually,” Shiro said with a pained face as he gripped his stomach and attempted to not fart, “why don’t we all just take the afternoon off? I think we’re all going to be a little sick from the potion.”

“Thanks, Shiro,” Hunk groaned, who was leaning over, trying to not throw up while Pidge patted his back.

“Are you okay, Hunk?” Lance asked, looking his friend over.

“Yeah, I’ll be okay,” Hunk said with a weak grin and a thumbs up.

“We’ll check up on everyone around dinner time,” Allura said, with Coran nodding in accordance. “Rest well, paladins.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated! This fic will be a short one chapterwise, but I think it will be fun.
> 
>    
>  [my tumblr](http://tenorswift.tumblr.com)
> 
>  
> 
> Update on May 31: I decided to add more to the first chapter, the next chapter will be coming out soon now that classes are over and I have more free time. Hopefully, I will be posting a lot more on here this summer.


	2. Legs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Splitting up and going off to everyone’s own thing, with the plan to meet up later for evening training, turned out to be not the greatest plan for the Paladins of Voltron. All of whom, except Keith and Lance, hoped their ailments would be gone after dinner but there was no such luck.

While Lance did not feel the immediate effects of the potion, it hit later when he decided to take a nap in his room. If the others weren’t feel well and were going to take naps, then why shouldn’t he? Lance would take all the rest he could get, but as he changed out of his clothes and into his pajamas, waves of nauseous pulsed in his head. Lance became unsure of his surroundings and could feel his stomach climb up his throat. He shuffled weakly towards his bed, collapsing on it and hugging the pillow to deal with the nausea and dizziness.  
Was this what Hunk experienced during those flight simulators back at the Garrison? God, this sucks, Lance thought to himself as an another wave of dizziness went through his head. 

Lance continued to clutch the pillow to his stomach and chest as the waves of nausea passed through him, leaving him feeling weak and drained. Still half of out his clothes, Lance stood up cautiously to remove more clothing when he felt his stomach jump. He clamped a hand over his mouth to keep himself from throwing up, moving into the adjoining bathroom. 

He fell to his knees and hunched over the Altean toilet, waiting for the vomit to come but eventually the feeling of throwing up passed. Lance shifted back from the toilet, sitting on the floor of the bathroom while deciding what to do next. Go back to the bed or stay in the bathroom in case of throwing up? The more he looked at the distance from the bathroom to the bed, the more Lance just wanted to feel asleep on the bathroom floor. 

Bathtub, he would sleep in the bathtub (which he had requested a while back since his room had not come with one). Careful to not move to suddenly, Lance removed the rest of his clothes and slipped into the tub, not bothering with water quite yet. He placed his cheek against the side of the tub, enjoying the coolness that relieved and refreshed his mind. 

Suddenly, his stomach clenched and unclenched and he could feel the potential vomit in his belly, causing to lean over his lap in anticipation. But nothing appeared, and Lance spent the next few minutes dry heaving and coughing. Lance leaned back after the coughing fit, slowing his breath and heart rate, feeling the tiredness in his limbs. Maybe it was time for a bath. Reaching toward the faucet, he turned on the water, not caring that it was cold and instead enjoyed the refreshing feeling it brought. Ducking his head underwater, Lance could feel the coolness in his ears and on his cheeks, wiping ahead the sweat from the nausea. Coming back for air, Lance turned off the faucet after a minutes with the water ready to spill over the edges, and heaved a large sigh, sinking further into the coolness. He didn’t care that it would make a mess, because right now it helped with his nausea and that was all that matter. 

After a bit, Lance’s breathing began to even out and his eyelids began to fall and soon he was fast asleep, still in the tub of cold water.  
Unknown to the sleeping paladin in the tub, his body begin to change. The nausea that plagued him was a side effect of the potion, but also the oncoming transformation his body which would flood his body and change him. 

It began with his legs and his arms, blue scales forming underneath his skin and then gradually pushing their way out from underneath the skin, emerging shiny and glittery. His arms grew fins on each side, protective gauntlets that his body had made, with pointed tips resembling shark teeth. The scales appeared at random on the rest of his arms and torso, reaching around on parts of his back and neck. With his legs, they too grew scales and fins, but the water between them began to congeal and become a glowing mix of ocean and sky blue, merging with the skin of the legs and creating new tissues. 

As new skin formed, Lance stirred in his sleep as the new skin yelled to be scratched. Absentmindedly, he moved his left hand and dropped it against his leg. When the water and the skin reached his underwear, the water dissolved it away, brightening in color as it did so. The water continued through his hips and thighs, fins sprouting off on either side of his hips, while new scales were left in the place of the underwear, until it all finished below Lance’s belly. As the transformation finished with Lance’s legs and merging them together, more water concentrated on where his feet once were. The water moved back and forth, all the way up to Lance’s ears and then back down again. As the water flowed back and forth in the tub, the water lengthened the small blue scales on his ears, making them pointed. The motion of the water gradually elongated the scales where his feet used to be, and after several minutes, a fishtail had appeared in the place of Lance’s feet. 

All while the transformation happen, Lance remained blissfully unaware, dozing with his head to the side on the bathtub. That changed as the last bit of the transformation happened: gills. The gills did not immediately appear on the side of Lance’s neck, but began internally— changing the structure of his neck and expanding underneath his skin. Ribbons of filaments connected back and forth throughout his neck and attached to cartilage that appear in his esophagus. Finally, after everything on the inside was complete and ready for oxygen intake, the gills opened for the first time, flaring up red and bright.

The gills flapped open and shut a few times, trying to get air to breathe, but the lack of water caused the gills to dry up and flake. Time to wake up, Lance, his body wailed at him as the lack of oxygen forced him out of his dream and into a panic. He began thrashing around the bathtub, splashing water all over the bathroom floor as he continued to feel horror, as the terror seized at his chest. 

In his panic, water moved up to his neck and covered his new gills for a second, allowing him to breathe. His fear settled during the moment but was back again as the water left. Still in a daze from sleep, Lance pushed his head under the still moving water and his gills flared open, breathing for the first time. He took in large breaths and could feel his heart slow as the oxygen cleared his head. Carefully, Lance poked his head above the water, bit by bit until his neck and gills were above the water. He could feel the gills as they flapped on the side of his neck, still wet, but breathing despite the different environment. 

Lance let out a large sigh and relaxed against the back of the bathtub, resting for a moment after the panic attack and still feeling the effects of his nausea. It was then that Lance noticed the rest of the changes his body had gone through. Fishtail. Scales. Pointed ears.

“What the fu—?”

 

Napping sound like a good idea to Hunk, but he knew he would never fall asleep with the current state of his stomach. Hoping for a suitable cure, he stopped in the kitchen and tried to find something that would calm his stomach down. Ginger— that would be his best bet, if he could find something like it. Maybe something like toast— Alteans ate bread, right? Hunk knew that if it got really bad, he should talk to Coran about some painkillers, but the trek to the med bay was far and he didn’t want to bother Coran with something that he could take care of himself. 

Entering the kitchen, Hunk moved past the food goo dispenser, deciding that whatever plants and other organic material was in in would not help his stomach. Moving to one of the other cabinets, Hunk pulled it open and started rummaging around its contents from other planets that they had visited. He vaguely remembered going to a market and finding something that resembled ginger— the same flaky skin that came off with the scrape of a fingernail— but it had been more of a purple color with a magenta center rather than the brown and yellow of Earth’s ginger. Pushing jars out of the away, Hunk’s found some vegetables at the very back of the cabinet. Taking them out of the cabinet, Hunk inspected them, looking for signs of rooting or mold, but he knew little about these plants and what they would look like if they had gone bad. Shrugging, he took them out and placed them on the counter. Time to get cookin’.

Hunk’s stomach made some loud rumbling noises as he moved around the kitchen assembling utensils, reminding him that he needed to be quick before his breakfast would get to meet his snack. He set a cutting board down and began chopping the purple ginger, not bothering to peel it. 

Done chopping it, Hunk placed the purple ginger in his mouth and began chewing, wincing at the flavor that reminded him of his grandma’s old soap. Walking over to the food goo dispenser, Hunk decided that masking its flavor would be his best option and poured himself a bowl. Placing the purple ginger in the bowl, Hunk made the most unappetizing dish— the magenta of ginger had weeped into the food goo,creating a bluish hue— of his life but still brought the strangely colored mixture to his lips and chewed. Now instead of a just soap flavor, his grandma’s sponge had joined the party. Hunk continued to eat the mixture for several minutes, stopping when he left his stomach lurch. 

“Uh oh,” Hunk commented to himself, realizing that just because something looked like ginger didn’t mean that it has the same properties as ginger. Whatever the purple ginger was for medicinal, it definitely wasn’t for upset stomachs and nausea. 

Hunk felt his stomach clinched once more, causing him to bend over and cover his mouth. He felt like he had gotten about better about not throwing up since leaving Earth, but he knew that whatever resistance to it he had built up was no match for the alien foods he just ingested. His stomach heaved and Hunk moved towards the kitchen sink, just in time for his gut to empty itself. Growing up, he remembered that he had thrown up in the bathroom sink once and his parents were glad that he made it to the bathroom, but said that a sink was the right place to throw up, the toilet was. Too late now, Hunk thought to himself, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and cupping water to his mouth. 

Hunk turned around and slid down the cabinets, collapsing to the ground. Despite not having anything left in his stomach, his gut still hurt and he could still hear it making noise. His stomach churned and tossed for several painful moments, causing Hunk to lean over and dry heave a few times, before Hunk decided that he needed to see Coran. Maybe he could have Coran come to him. Using the cabinets to pull himself off the ground, Hunk shuffled over to the wall communicator, holding the button and hoping for the best. 

“Coran?” Hunk’s voice—thick from exhaustion— echoed in the kitchen, apparently being broadcasted through all the public spaces in the Castle. “Could you bring me an antacid and some painkillers? Ugh…” Hunk groaned as another spasm went through his stomach and dropped to his knees to lean against the wall. This time, though, something was different, something in his stomach felt… off. Like it was somewhere it shouldn’t be. Hunk knew that anatomically speaking what he thought of as his stomach was actually his intestines but it was always easier to just say stomach. This time it actually was his stomach and it felt like it was moving in his body, shifting lower than it should be. 

Hunk’s body went through a spasm of pain, whether it was caused by his gut, Hunk wasn’t sure, but it was enough for him to lose his position on the wall and lay on the ground, the cold metal floor pressed against his cheek. The spasm began in his chest and moved down his body to his legs and hips, where his legs started and his upper body ended. Again, Hunk felt movement inside his body, his bones rearranging themselves, shifting and lengthening. Large scales appeared on his legs, spreading and replacing his skin and shredding through his boots and pants. The scales began to combine and fuse at his feet, closing the gap between his legs and dissolving his clothes. As this process continued, the scales became larger and changed from the deep color of Hunk’s skin to warm yellow, mixed with darker browns and oranges throughout. 

The scales continued to appear on Hunk’s upper body, though not as prominent as the scales on his now tail. They concentrated on his back and the tops of his arms, protective armour that his body had. Lighter scales textured the rest of his skin, adding more color to his complexion like freckles if viewed from afar. As the transformation progressed up his body, his teeth became longer and sharper, two large needles formed from his gums. A groan escaped his lips as the new fangs came in and replaced his comparatively dull canines. The vividly colored scales continue their way up Hunk’s neck, branching out to his ears and dusting the backs, leaving them pointed. By the end of the transformation, Hunk was sprawled out on the floor of the kitchen, breathing heavily and in a state of stupor. Weakened from the changes, Hunk fell asleep like that, unaware of what his body had just undergone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Another chapter published. I decided to name this chapter "legs" because the legs of Voltron loose their legs. I'll try to have the next chapter come in August before I go back to college but we'll see. (Fic writers including myself are bad about this)
> 
> I'm still working on my other fic, Violet Blaze, though it's been a while since it last updated. If you like this fic, be sure to check out Violet Blaze and my other new fic that I'll be posting today. 
> 
> Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated - they help to keep me writing.
> 
> [my tumblr](http://tenorswift.tumblr.com/)


End file.
